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A Russian zoo said it sent two peacocks to those fighting in Ukraine. AdvertisementA Russian zoo said it sent two peacocks to Ukraine with the aim of inspiring Russian troops fighting there — but then deleted its post after people mocked Russian President Vladimir Putin in the comments, according to reports. He added that an aviary was being built for the birds, according to Ukrainian outlet Pravda's reporting. The zoo later deleted its announcement post, according to The Daily Beast and Pravda. Putin has also put in place a law that effectively criminalizes any reference to the fighting in Ukraine being a "war" or "invasion."
Persons: Putin, , Vladimir Putin, It's Organizations: Service, Lipetsk Zoo, VK, Daily, Pravda Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Lipetsk, Russia, Ukrainian
CNN —Within hours of opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s death in February in a Russian prison, a group of anti-Kremlin hackers went looking for revenge. This screenshot, provided to CNN by hackers claiming responsibility, shows a hacked website tied to the Russian prison system display messages of support for late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Obtained by CNNIt took several hours for the administrator of the online prison shop to notice that Russians were buying food for pennies, according to the hacker involved. CNN was able to match multiple prisoner names in screenshots shared by the hackers with people that, according to public records, are currently in Russian prison. The online prison shop that the hackers appear to have breached is owned by the Russian state and officially known as JSC Kaluzhskoe, according to Russian business records reviewed by CNN.
Persons: Alexey Navalny’s, “ Long, Alexey Navalny, Yulia, Navalny, ” Tom Hegel, ” Hegel, Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden, Alexander Zemlianichenko, , Putin, Ukraine “, Hegel, “ Hacktivism, Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, JSC Kaluzhskoe, Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service, JSC, US, Russian Federal Penitentiary Service Locations: Russian, Russia, Russia’s, US, Yamalo, Moscow, Ukraine, Ukrainian
Now comes another shock to the system, with the appalling murder of at least 139 people in a terror attack at a concert hall just outside Moscow. And with its brutal official response to the attack, Russia seems to have taken an even darker turn. But after Friday’s Crocus City attack, the brutality of Russian security services appeared on naked display. It sends a message to ordinary Russians – and the world – that Russian state security forces are capable of anything. “Everyone asks me, what is to be done?” Medvedev said, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
Persons: Alexey Navalny, Vladimir Putin, Putin, – implausibly, , Dmitry Peskov, ” Peskov, ” Putin, Tatyana Makeyeva, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, Margarita Simonyan, approvingly, Simonyan, , Alexander Zemlianichenko, Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s, ” Medvedev, Vladimir Vasiliev Organizations: CNN, ISIS, “ Intelligence, Kremlin, KGB, Getty, VK, Putin, , United Russia, Novosti Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Kyiv, United States, Chechnya, Crocus, Basmanny, AFP, Russian
How the Russian Government Silences Wartime DissentJust days after invading Ukraine, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia signed a censorship law that made it illegal to “discredit” the army. The indignities of the crackdown, and the long arm of the Russia law, is being lost in the numbers. Nanna Heitmann for The New York TimesIn dry legalese, the court documents recount the Russian state’s case against these statements and protests. People’s “negative assessment” of the Russian military could adversely affect its performance, the court said, presenting a national security risk. And I very much don’t want this.”Sergei Platonov at district court in Moscow listening to his guilty verdict in November.
Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, , — schoolteachers, , That’s, Ukraine —, pollsters, Andrei Kolesnikov, Demyan, Aleksandr T, Olga V, ” Maksim L, Omsk Diana I, Denis V, Russia ”, , Maksim P, Anna S, Maria V, people’s “, Russia’s, Zaynulla Gadzhiyev, Mr, Bespokoyev, Marina Tsurmast, scrawled, Nanna Heitmann, Tsurmast, Gadzhiyev, Vladimir Kara, Murza, Aleksandra Y, Skochilenko, Selimat, Vladimir A, Rustam I, ” Yelena L, Aleksandr K, Olga P, Dmitri D, Sergei V, Eve, Daria Ivanova, Ms, Ivanova, “ you’ll, Anton Redikultsev, Redikultsev, Jan, Marina, Sergei P, ” Yuldash, ” Dmitri S, Peskov, Putin’s, Sergei Platonov, Platonov, Russian Gestapo ”, Polina, Kolesnikov, Anna Sliva, Sliva Organizations: New York Times, Times, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, OVD, Penza Yuriy V, Russia, , Ukraine ” “, YouTube, Bucha, Ukraine, Police, The New York Times, Armed Forces, Russian Federation, VK, Russian Gestapo, The New York Locations: Russia, Russian, Ukraine, , Omsk, Peace, Ukraine ” “ Ukraine, Bucha, Moscow, St, Petersburg, Iglino, , Novosibirsk, Siberia, Crimea, Ukrainian, Kalga, Russia’s, OVD, Coast, Primorye, Soviet
Putin's war in Ukraine may have killed off one of Russia's most promising tech companies. AdvertisementPutin's war in Ukraine has taken quite a toll on the country's most successful tech company. The Dutch-domiciled company owns Russia's most popular search engine, which is often referred to as "Russia's Google." AdvertisementIt was also one of the most promising Russian tech companies in terms of global expansion. The tech company has, however, come under increasing government scrutiny in recent years after Putin's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Persons: , Arkady Volozh, Volozh, Yandex Organizations: Yandex, Service, Bloomberg, Google, Reuters, VK Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Israel, Russia
The logo of Russian technology giant Yandex is on display at the company's headquarters in Moscow, Russia December 9, 2022. Dutch holding company Yandex NV's planned restructuring is aimed at recouping some shareholder funds with the sale of its main revenue-generating Russian businesses, such as its search and ride-hailing operations. 'CONTROL FOR LESS'Yandex NV may sell 100% of a holding company set up in Russia's Kaliningrad region, said one of the people. A third source said this scenario would see Yandex NV make a clean break with Russia. Yandex NV shareholders could easily have been left with nothing, said one of the sources.
Persons: Evgenia, Yandex, Yandex's, Arkady Volozh, Russia's, nationalising Yandex, Darya Korsunskaya, Alexander Marrow, David Goodman, Bernadette Baum Organizations: REUTERS, Kremlin, VK, Reuters, Carlsberg, Danone, Yandex, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine, Yandex, Dubai, Russia's Kaliningrad, nationalising
Footage captioned online as showing a rally in Chicago supporting “Hamas’ terror attack” predates the clashes between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in October 2023. However, matching footage has circulated across multiple social media platforms since at least 2021. On May 16, 2021, thousands of demonstrators in downtown Chicago rallied in support of Palestinians, according to reports at the time by the Chicago Tribune and NBC 5 Chicago. Multiple pro-Palestinian rallies took place in downtown Chicago throughout May 2021, ABC7 and the Chicago Sun Times also reported. On Oct. 9, Palestinian supporters rallied in downtown Chicago against the violent conflict, as seen in news reports from ABC 7, CBS News Chicago and MSNBC.
Persons: Israel ”, escalations, Read Organizations: Hamas, Facebook, VK, Chicago, Chicago Tribune, NBC, Chicago Sun Times, Associated Press, ABC, CBS News Chicago, MSNBC, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Chicago, Israel, Palestinian, Gaza, Russia, U.S
A photo surfaced online showing a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber covered in tires. The photo appeared just days after satellite images showed Russian bombers also covered in tires. The approach comes after drone strikes have bombarded Russian air bases, costing the country both bombers and airlift planes. In the photo, which Insider has been unable to independently verify, the Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bomber, known to NATO as the Fullback, looks to be exposed in the open but is partially wrapped in a canopy. The image of the Su-34 is similar to satellite images of Tu-95 bombers and Tu-160 heavy bombers shared online last week.
Persons: aren't, Sukhoi Su Organizations: Service, Russian Air Force, Russian, NATO, Aviation, Ilyushin, Ukraine's, Directorate of Intelligence, Russia Locations: Russian, Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Russia, Pskov, Soviet, Russia's
A social media video with BBC branding that says Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is alive, having staged his death with Russian authorities, is a fake, a spokesperson for the broadcaster told Reuters. The private Embraer jet on which Prigozhin was travelling crashed on Aug. 23, killing all 10 people aboard (here). On Aug. 29, a minute-long clip mimicking a BBC News report circulated on social media and claimed the mercenary chief was still alive. Captions superimposed on footage of the crash site and a picture of Prigozhin say: “BBC source denies information about the death of the owner of PMC Wagner. In a statement sent to Reuters via email, a BBC spokesperson said: “We are aware of this fake video and our lawyers are urgently looking into it.
Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Read Organizations: BBC, Reuters, Embraer, PMC Wagner, Facebook
At that time, CNN obtained undercover video recorded inside the secretive Internet Research Agency, where internet provocateurs worked 12-hour shifts, aiming to distort political debate in the US. CNN has checked the accounts from a list shared by Bot Blocker, and noted apparent patterns of activity. According to Bot Blocker, the trolls spread their narratives through comments in various threads and posts which are related to relevant subjects. If the rebellion is mentioned, then it’s only as a long-exhausted issue,” Bot Blocker added. According to the initial analysis from Bot Blocker, there were no changes in rhetoric after the official confirmation of Prigozhin’s death.
Persons: Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, provocateurs, – Bot, Bot Blocker, , Andrey Soshnikov, Putin, Russia …, Prigozhin’s, Blocker, Bot Organizations: CNN, Internet Research Agency, Twitter, PMC Wagner Locations: St, Petersburg, United States, Russia, Ukraine, Africa, Moscow, St . Petersburg, Russian
Russia's Ka-52 attack helicopter has been imposing a high cost on Ukraine's counteroffensive this summer. AdvertisementAdvertisementIt can also serve as a surveillance platform and an aerial command center for a fleet of attack helicopters. While some military experts say the US Apache helicopter is superior to the Ka-52, the Russian helicopter gunship is highly rated. In its review of the top nine attack helicopters, Military-Today.com wrote: "The Ka-52 is one of the fastest and most maneuverable attack helicopters due to its two coaxial contra-rotating main rotors. A video appears to show one of the Ka-52 attack helicopters being downed, revealing Russia's weakness, a former US general told Insider.
Persons: Russia's Ka, Ukraine's, Today.com, ALEXANDER NEMENOV, Insider's Ryan Pickrell, Andriy Yermak, Maxym Organizations: Russian, Service, Kremlin, Kyiv Post, Kamov, Russian Helicopters, Airforce Technology, US Apache, Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, AP, Military Factory, Russia, Getty, UK Ministry of Defence, Twitter, Ukrainian, Russian Ministry of Defense, Royal United Services Institute, Forbes Locations: Ukrainian, Wall, Silicon, Russian, Ukraine, AFP, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, London, American, Russia
A news ticker was hacked in Siberia to insult Vladimir Putin, reports said. Putin is a "thief', said the hijacked news ticker in Siberian oil town Surgut. It came after the value of the ruble plunged against the dollar. 100 rubles to the dollar – you've lost your fucking mind," read the news ticker in Surgut, an oil town in Siberia, reported Max Seddon, the Financial Times' Moscow bureau chief. According to Russian independent outlet The Insider, the news ticker was run by the Russian news agency SIA-Press.
Persons: Vladimir Putin, Putin, you've, Max Seddon, Taras Samborsky Organizations: Service, Financial Times, SIA, Press Locations: Siberia, Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, Moscow, Russian
What’s the difference between Russia’s internet before and after the invasion of Ukraine? That was the finding of a report published on Wednesday by Citizen Lab, a group from the University of Toronto that studies online censorship in authoritarian countries. The new report was one of the first attempts to quantify the extent of Russian internet censorship since the war began in February 2022. Before the war, Russia’s government issued internet takedown orders to Vkontakte, known as VK, once every 50 days on average. The government also used keyword blocking to censor lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer terms on the site, the report said.
Persons: Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: Citizen Lab, University of Toronto, Lab, Vkontakte, VK Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Vkontakte
The video resurfaced on July 11-12 (seen here) and (here) shortly after the Kremlin said (here) Prigozhin met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 29, five days post-mutiny. Posted to Twitter and Tiktok, the video shows Prigozhin addressing an unnamed party. It can be seen on Russian video hosting site Rutube (here) and on social network Vkontakte (vk.com/video-5158073_456277596). A news outlet based in Russia's Ulyanovsk region published a June 13 report using footage of Prigozhin (here) in the same room and wearing the same clothes. While Prigozhin is not heard talking specifically about Wagner’s plans in the video report, it does appear to be the same meeting.
Persons: Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner, Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Read Organizations: Twitter, PMC Wagner, Reuters Locations: Ukraine, Russia's Ulyanovsk, Ulyanovsk
May 19 (Reuters) - Technology company Yandex (YNDX.O) has received bids from Russian billionaires for a stake of about half of the company's local business, valuing it at over $7 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. Billionaires Vladimir Potanin and Vagit Alekperov bid for at least a 51% controlling stake in Yandex's Russian business, which they value at about 560 billion roubles ($7.21 billion) to 600 billion roubles, the report said citing people familiar with the matter. The board of Yandex might discuss the bids next week when it meets in Dubai, the report added. Yandex's primary advertising competitor, Alphabet Inc's Google (GOOGL.O), stopped selling online advertising in Russia last year. The company also sold its news aggregator platform Yandex News and content recommendation service Yandex Zen to its Russian rival VK (VKCOq.L) in 2022.
April 27 (Reuters) - Russian tech giant Yandex (YNDX.O) on Thursday reported a 54% jump in first-quarter revenue to 163.3 billion roubles ($2 billion) and a return to profitability after sliding to a net loss in the same period last year. Since Russia despatched troops to Ukraine in February 2022, Yandex - often dubbed "Russia's Google" - has struggled to balance domestic pressure with the interests of its Western investors. Yandex last year reported a net loss of 8.1 billion roubles in the first quarter of 2022. Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google stopped selling online advertising in Russia last March while keeping some free services available, allowing Yandex to gain market share. Yandex said its search and portal market share averaged 63.3% in the quarter, up from 61% a year ago.
Fires erupted at a power station in the Russian border region of Belgorod overnight, a blaze that left part of the regional capital without power and that Russian military correspondents attributed to a Ukrainian drone attack. “The cause of this is the actions of our enemies,” wrote Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov on Russian social-media platform VK. “The most important thing is that no one was injured,” he said.
Yandex, often referred to as "Russia's Google", said investments in ad technologies drove a similar revenue jump in the fourth quarter, but adjusted net income slid 72% to 747 million roubles. Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google stopped selling online advertising in Russia last March but has kept some free services available, opening the door for Yandex to enhance its market share. "While solid trends in advertising revenue continued in January 2023, we expect growth rates to gradually normalise in the coming months once the effect of last year's changes in the ad market competitive landscape annualises," Yandex said. Nasdaq-listed Yandex has sought to find a balance between its Western investors on one side and the Kremlin on the other. As part of that deal, Yandex acquired VK's food delivery service Delivery Club, helping the gross merchandise volume (GMV) of its e-commerce division to almost double to 308 billion roubles in 2022, it said.
A clip that featured in news reports of a military plane crash near Kubinka, Russia in August 2021 has been erroneously shared by users online saying it depicts an airplane crash in Nepal on Jan. 15. A reverse image search reveals that the clip featured in news reports of a military plane crash that occurred near the Kubinka airfield outside Moscow in August 2021 (here), (here), (here). Multiple geolocation factors confirm the clip was filmed near Kubinka. Given these angles, the video was likely filmed from an apartment block near Kubinka (55.602243, 36.694633), (archive.is/wip/gQ42t). The clip was featured in August 2021 news reports of a military plane crash near Kubinka airfield, Russia.
Since the early days of the invasion, Mr. Putin has conceded, privately, that the war has not gone as planned. “I think he is sincerely willing” to compromise with Russia, Mr. Putin said of Mr. Zelensky in 2019. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. “I think this war is Putin’s grave.” Yevgeny Nuzhin, 55, a Russian prisoner of war held by Ukraine, in October.
Russian troops in Lyman and those who retreated took heavy losses, including an elite GRU unit. In just a few days, Ukrainian forces liberated hundreds of square miles of territory and scores of villages. Its cadre of Spetsnaz commandos is among the best in the Russian military. Competent special operators require years of basic and advanced military training, as well as training tailored to their mission sets. The Russian military as a whole is taking a battering in Ukraine, though casualty estimates vary widely.
Kudrin, who has been seen as both a pro-Western economic liberal and close ally of President Vladimir Putin throughout his career, would become the highest profile government official to leave a post since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February. "In total, I spent about 25 years in the public sector," Kudrin wrote on his Telegram channel. He served as a powerful finance minister for more than a decade between 2000 and 2011, and while maintaining close ties with Putin, Kudrin kept a relatively low profile in his current role as head of the Audit Chamber, Russia's public spending watchdog. In a late-night meeting last week, Kudrin and Putin discussed Yandex's future, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Reporting by Marina Bobrova, Jake Cordell and Alexander Marrow; Editing by Himani SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Nov 24 (Reuters) - Russian internet giant Yandex NV (YNDX.O) is seeking President Vladimir Putin's approval to sell its operations in the country and spin off its main international projects, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing sources. The company has informally enlisted former finance minister Alexei Kudrin to win Putin's approval, in principle, for the restructuring plan, according to the report. Often referred to as Russia's Google, Yandex like many Russian companies has had turbulent few months after grappling with Moscow's increasing isolation in the wake of the Ukraine conflict. In August, VK, a state-controlled company with close links to Putin, agreed to buy Yandex's news feed and homepage. In exchange, Yandex acquired food delivery company Delivery Club from VK to focus on other business areas, such as food delivery and ride-hailing.
Russia's Yandex posts 46% jump in revenues in Q3
  + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: 1 min
SummarySummary Companies This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in UkraineMOSCOW, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Russian internet giant Yandex (YNDX.O) on Thursday reported a 46% year-on-year increase in total revenues in the third quarter to 133.2 billion roubles ($2.14 billion) and expanded its dominant share in the domestic search market. Yandex in August sold its news aggregator, content platform Zen and homepage yandex.ru to state-controlled VK in a move that is expected to tighten the government's grip on the internet, but maintains Yandex's stranglehold on online searches, which account for a little under half of its revenues. ($1 = 62.1000 roubles)Reporting by Alexander Marrow and Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov posted a video of his teenage sons presenting him with Ukrainian POWs. Kadyrov previously revealed that his three sons, aged 14-16, had been on the frontline in Ukraine. Kadyrov, a staunch supporter of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has called for the use of a "low-yield nuclear weapon." The video, which was posted on Kadyrov's Telegram channel, appears to show two of his sons, along with other Russian soldiers, bringing three Ukrainian prisoners of war to him in Grozny. Lawyers have noted that filming prisoners of war without their consent violates their rights under the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war.
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